Less than the Least

I'm not the biggest Olympic junkie around, but I've enjoyed watching, and following the Chinese and American medal counts. So far, everyone I've read uses one of two measures: who has the most gold, and who has the most total medals. Both measures are obviously unfair in opposite ways.

The solution is easy--give each country three points for a gold medal, two for a silver, and one point for a bronze. According to cnnsi.com (link: here) and my own arithmetic calculations, the two nations have nearly identical counts by that measure.

As of this writing, China has 49 golds, 19 silvers, and 28 bronzes.
(49 x 3) + (19 x 2) + 28 = 213

The U.S. has 33 golds, 37 silvers, and 36 bronzes.
(33 x 3) + (37 x 2) + 36 = 209

Very, very close. By this measure, the two nations were tied last night at 200 apiece.

We’ve just passed the one year anniversary of Less than the Least—our welcome post went up on February 28, 2008. 

Bill and I had been talking about starting a blog for a month or so when Bill’s cancer was diagnosed last January. Our first impulse was to put the idea on hold, but our second thought was just the opposite: the blog might be a way for Bill to share thoughts about his cancer, in addition to whatever thoughts and ideas we had on other topics.

It’s been a memorable year, both for the nation and for us personally. We are deeply grateful for all the comments and emails—those that said one or both of us must be crazy every bit as much as the ones that agreed with us.   Keep them coming, and Lord willing we will too.